Sir Peter Saunders, the impresario who produced the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, has died.

Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap was first performed in 1952, and celebrated its half-century with a visit from the Queen and Prince Philip last November. Married to television star Katie Boyle, Sir Peter died on Feb. 6 after a long illness. Although he owned several theatre leases and produced many plays during a West End career that began in the late 1940's, he was best known for staging Agatha Christie plays.

The crucial role that The Mousetrap played in his career was acknowledged in the title of his autobiography, "The Mousetrap Man," which he published in 1972, ten years before receiving his knighthood.